Written Answers Monday 9 July 2007

Scottish Executive

Ambulance Service

Karen Whitefield (Airdrie and Shotts) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to invest in ambulance services in Lanarkshire in the next four years and, in particular, how much will be spent on ambulance services, what this money will be spent on and what criteria it will use to determine how services have been improved over this period.

Shona Robison: It is for the Scottish Ambulance Service to determine how and where to invest the resources it receives from the Scottish Government - £177.8 million in 2007-08 - in providing emergency and non-emergency patient transport services for the people of Scotland and to ensure value for money. The ambulance service may also receive additional resources from a territorial NHS board where there is agreement that such investment is required as a consequence of re-configuration of hospital services within the local area.

  For 2007-08 the Scottish Ambulance Service has budgeted £11.4 million in support of services to the area of NHS Lanarkshire with £7.8 million going to the emergency service and £1.9 million to patient transport. The balance will be spent on items such as fuel costs, vehicle maintenance, accommodation costs, heating, equipment, drugs and consumables. The Lanarkshire area benefited from targeted investment in 2006-07 with an extra 43 staff (a mix of paramedics, technicians and ambulance care assistants) being taken on bringing the total whole-time equivalent establishment to 356.

  The Scottish Government monitors the performance of the ambulance service’s emergency and patient transport services on a regular basis. The Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing will be discussing the ambulance service’s performance and how it plans to continue to improve its services to patients as part of its annual review on 15 August.

Audiology

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many BSc audiology students will graduate in 2007.

Shona Robison: There are two audiology courses available in Scotland, offered by Queen Margaret University. The BSc in Audiology and the two-year Graduate Diploma, for existing science graduates, both started in August 2005. The first 11 Graduate Diploma students are due to complete their course in July 2007, with confirmation of the awards in August 2007. The first BSc Audiology students will graduate in 2009.

Audiology

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacant posts there are for audiologists.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government continues to monitor audiology student numbers and the future workforce needs of NHSScotland. The latest information available indicates that there are currently 14.6 whole-time equivalent vacancies for audiologists.

Cairngorms National Park

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will redraw the boundary of the Cairngorms National Park to include highland Perthshire.

Michael Russell: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-257 on 20 June 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Deaf and Hard of Hearing People

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to address the mental health needs of deaf and hard of hearing people.

Shona Robison: Our policy is to promote approaches for deaf and hard of hearing people to have unhindered access to mainstream and specialist mental health services. We recognise the need for service improvement and keep all arrangements under review.

  We are funding relevant training organisations to develop a training pack on awareness for social care staff and have published guidance on Disability Discrimination Compliance: Access to Mainstream and Specialist Services for those with sensory loss and a mental health problem a copy of which can be found in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 38922).

  In June this year we co funded an event with the Royal College of Psychiatrists on sharing good practice and further advancing training and access issues among mainstream staff and for those working in mental health services with an interest in the mental health needs of deaf and hard of hearing people.

  Specialist in-patient and outreach services for deaf people continue from the John Denmark Unit, Manchester. All referrals for inpatient care are fully funded by the NHS National Specialist Division. We again keep these arrangements under review in the context of service need.

Digital Technology

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of households in (a) Scotland and (b) each parliamentary constituency have a domestic internet connection.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of households have had a domestic (a) broadband and (b) dial-up internet connection in each of the last three years.

Jim Mather: The information requested is not collated on a comprehensive Scotland-wide basis and therefore no such data is held within the Executive.

Economy

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that, according to the FSB Scotland Index of Success 2007, an improvement of 2.8 years in life expectancy would place Scotland in ninth place out of 24 OECD countries.

John Swinney: The FSB Success Index 2007 ranks Scotland 17th out of 24 advanced OECD economies. It is not this government’s role to speculate as to where Scotland might have been if we performed differently on some of the measures that make up this composite index. It is, however, our role to ensure that we raise Scotland’s economic performance generally, which will allow us to deliver on this government’s wider policy priorities.

Economy

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take in response to the findings of the FSB Scotland Index of Success 2007.

John Swinney: The Scottish government is determined that Scotland can and will do better.

  We want to make this country a wealthier and fairer, healthier and smarter place. The performance of Norway, Iceland and Ireland demonstrates exactly what we should aspire to in Scotland. These countries form an arc of prosperity that surrounds us, which proves that this is something we can achieve.

  The policies we put in place will improve our performance giving Scotland a clear competitive edge and helping us achieve our overarching aim of strong sustainable economic growth.

Education

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will confirm that, on the FSB Scotland Index of Success 2007, Scotland ranks eighth out of 24 OECD countries in terms of educational attainment.

Fiona Hyslop: Yes.

Education

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will meet COSLA to discuss the role, terms and conditions of classroom assistants.

Maureen Watt: The terms and conditions of service of Classroom Assistants are matters for local authorities as employers. Ministers are carefully considering the issues raised in the Equal Opportunities Commission Scotland’s report Valuable Assets – a general formal investigation into the role and status of classroom assistants in Scottish schools and will respond in due course to the issues relevant to the Scottish Executive.

Health

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what resources are available to ensure that high-quality information and support is easily available to all those affected by lung disease at all stages of the disease and what opportunities exist for such people to be more involved in local NHS service development.

Shona Robison: We recognise that the provision of high-quality information is essential to our aim of making people living with long-term conditions equal partners in their own care. NHS boards should have information on the services that are available in their area, along with information on the condition and the relevant services through national organisations such as NHS 24. The format of such information has to take account of legislation and the communication needs of people living with the condition, their carers and the public. There is also an essential role for voluntary sector organisations such as the British Lung Foundation Scotland in the provision of information.

  CHPs are ideally placed to provide up-to-date information to people with long-term conditions such as lung disease and health care professionals regarding their condition and the services available in their localities.

  Each Community Health Partnership has a Public Partnership Forum and people from local groups such as the British Lung Foundation’s "Breathe Easy" Groups can play an important role within these fora in relation to the organisation and development of services in their locality.

  We have supported the development in different parts of the country of Managed Clinical Networks (MCNs) for respiratory conditions, and it is one of the core principles of MCN development that people with the relevant condition, or representatives of the voluntary organisations which speak on their behalf, should be involved in the operation of the networks so that they can play a key role in the development of services.

  NHS boards’ patient and public involvement fora are also a useful way of influencing strategy at NHS board level.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many public service workers given special leave with pay and serving with the Territorial Army or reserves have subsequently been recorded as suffering either physical or mental health problems as a result of their service activities.

Shona Robison: This information is not held centrally. We continue our discussions the Ministry of Defence and NHS boards to develop new models of service delivery for veterans.

  Current arrangements include assessment and out-patient service for those members of the reserved forces demobilised since January 2003 whose mental health is assessed to have suffered primarily as a result of their operational deployment. In-patient care is provided by NHS boards through normal referral processes subject to the terms on the priority to be attached for treatment for those veterans in receipt of a service related pension.

Health

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing will ensure that the Comprehensive Spending Review will take into account the findings of the FSB Scotland Index of Success 2007.

Nicola Sturgeon: As the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth outlined in his recent statement to Parliament (Thursday 28 June 2007), the spending review represents a thorough appraisal of all aspects of the Scottish budget and the factors that influence the demands for public services in Scotland. The outcome of the 2007 spending review is expected to be announced in the autumn.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will ensure that the Medical Training Application Service application procedure will not have a negative impact on the future careers of junior doctors.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government is determined to continue to do what is right for Scotland. We have already adopted our own approach where it has been in Scotland’s best interest to do so, for example by stepping aside from using the on-line Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) when it became clear that it could not provide the improved functionality we required to support our process. We will not hesitate to adapt future selection and recruitment processes if that best serves Scottish interests and ensures that we continue to attract the best possible candidates for our NHS. Our approach has been to work in partnership with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in Scotland, NHSScotland and the BMA. We will continue to do so in developing and reviewing future arrangements, including those I announced on 27 June designed to ensure continuity of employment for any doctors who have been unable to secure continued training posts this year.

Housing

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is monitoring the tenants’ right to buy housing policy.

Nicola Sturgeon: Yes, the tenants’ right to buy housing policy is monitored by the Scottish Government.

Housing

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will monitor the operation of pressurised area status exercised by local authorities.

Nicola Sturgeon: Whilst pressured area designations which suspend the right to buy for some tenants are granted by the Scottish ministers, they are implemented by local authorities. The Scottish Government maintains an overview of all designations in place but it is for local authorities to manage the application of designations in their local areas.

  The Scottish Government monitors right to buy sales on an on-going basis, and will look in particular at sales from 30 September 2007, when tenants affected by designations begin to be eligible to buy, in order to observe the impact of pressured area designations on sales.

Housing

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what priority it will give to housing policy.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government places a very high priority on housing policy. We set out our immediate plans during the Executive Debate on Housing on 21 June, which include pursuing a new Housing Supply Task Force and implementing the manifesto proposal for a new Scottish Housing Support Fund.

Housing

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will monitor the number of families living in overcrowded accommodation awaiting suitable tenancies.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Executive collects information on numbers of applicants on housing lists, but this does not include details of individual household circumstances as collecting such a level of detail would place an excessive burden on social landlords. As part of its regulation and inspection role, Communities Scotland looks at whether or not a local authority or registered social landlord gives reasonable preference to overcrowded households through its allocation policy, but does not collect this information routinely.

Housing

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in each local authority area in the South of Scotland parliamentary region have been housed in temporary accommodation in each of the last 10 years.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Executive collects snapshot information on the number of households in temporary accommodation at the end of each quarter through the HL2 return. This relates to households which have been placed in temporary accommodation by a local authority under the Homeless Persons legislation, and includes households for whom the local authority’s decision and final action is still pending, as well as households which were secured such accommodation as a final action.

  The following table gives the number of households in temporary accommodation on the 31 March 1996 through to 31 March 2006. The table is broken down by whether the local authority is wholly or partly in the South of Scotland region. Data for 31 March 2007 will be published in autumn 2007.

  Number of Households in Temporary Accommodation as At 31 March (South Of Scotland Region): 1997 To 2006

  

Local Authorities Wholly in Region
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006


Dumfries and Galloway
47
46
74
65
76
103
154
188
250
238


South Ayrshire
175
172
157
161
152
137
122
159
172
212


Scottish Borders
23
38
16
24
35
35
6
32
40
46



  

Local Authorities Partly in Region
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006


East Ayrshire
26
41
43
30
21
16
44
51
71
100


East Lothian
66
51
46
43
52
69
86
111
187
188


Midlothian
39
37
35
30
38
21
84
14
154
131


North Ayrshire
32
39
54
72
51
132
202
291
384
528


South Lanarkshire
130
142
203
181
197
246
316
345
337
432



  Source: HL2 returns submitted by local authorities to the Scottish Executive Communities Analytical Services Division (Housing Statistics).

Housing

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive in what percentage of new housing developments over the last year 25% of land for affordable housing has been set aside.

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it assesses the progress of developers in meeting the target that 25% of new housing developments should be affordable homes.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held currently by the Scottish Executive. However, we are introducing new monitoring arrangements this autumn which will measure the extent of affordable housing and associated contributions that have been secured through the planning system. This information will allow us to consider whether current policies need to be revised or strengthened.

Housing

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has had any discussions with developers on meeting the target that 25% of new housing developments should be affordable homes.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Executive has frequent discussions with both Homes for Scotland and the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations with regard to the delivery of new affordable homes. The new Housing Supply Task Force will provide a further opportunity to engage with key housing stakeholders on the important objective of increasing housing supply and making homes more affordable.

Mental Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients who are now, or were formerly, members of the British armed forces are being treated in hospitals in Scotland for mental health problems related to post-traumatic stress or combat fatigue.

Shona Robison: This information is not centrally held. Work continues with the Ministry of Defence and NHS boards to improve access to structured care and support that better reflects needs for serving and former service personnel.

  Assessment and outpatient services are in place for those members of the reserved forces demobilised since January 2003 whose mental health is assessed to have suffered primarily as a result of their operational deployment. The out-patient services are provided and funded by Defence Medical Services from facilities in Kinloss, Leuchars and Faslane.

  In-patient care is also provided and fully funded by NHS boards through normal referral processes subject to the terms on the priority to be attached for treatment for those veterans in receipt of a service related pension.

Mental Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-162 by Shona Robison on 7 June 2007, what further interventions it is planning to achieve the 10% reduction in the prescription of anti-depressants by 2009.

Shona Robison: We are engaged with partners on a number of initiatives including a commitment to increase access to a range of evidence based psychological interventions; increasing the capacity of the two Scottish programmes for cognitive behaviour therapy to train and supervise more staff; attention to identifying those with a new diagnosis of CHD and diabetes who also have depression and anxiety and matching their needs to an appropriate level of therapy; ensuring that all patients are assessed using a recognised depression assessment tool for use by for general practitioners, and work around early intervention and promoting recovery.

  Taken together these initiatives will support our objectives for wider availability of evidence based psychological therapies, improved uptake of self help and social prescribing approaches which in turn will help reduce the use of anti-depressants.

NHS Hospitals

Dave Thompson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were treated in accident and emergency units for injuries caused by assaults with glass in each of the last five years, broken down by hospital.

Shona Robison: The information requested is not centrally available.

  The following link gives access to a report entitled Understanding Alcohol Misuse in Scotland. It looks at the number and nature of assault presentations to emergency departments in Scotland, and also looks to identify the degree to which alcohol is a contributing factor. The report includes a table showing the type of weapon used in assaults, including glass, regardless of whether or not alcohol has been implicated. The report was commissioned by Quality Improvement Scotland and produced by the Scottish Trauma Audit Group who surveyed 16 emergency departments during March to April 2006.

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/ui-links.jsp?pContentID=4439&p_applic=CCC&p_service=Content.show&.

  Information obtained from accident and emergency (A&E) provides detail on the number of attendances at A&E departments, however information on the cause of injury is not collected. The total number of new attendances at A&E is approximately 1.4 million per year. Information can be found within the following web pages:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=Annual_trends_in_outpatient_activity_hbtnum_ May2007.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

Regeneration

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it intends to meet representatives of the Irvine Bay Urban Regeneration Company.

Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish Government officials are in regular contact with representatives of Irvine Bay Urban Regeneration Company and the Minister for Communities and Sport intends meeting representatives of Irvine Bay URC shortly.

Regeneration

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what importance it places on maintaining the established network of urban regeneration companies.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government places great importance on creating a wealthier and fairer Scotland. We therefore value the contribution being made by the current network of urban regeneration companies (URCs) across Scotland to achieve the long-term, lasting transformation of the areas which they cover. We are keen to maintain an informal network across the URCs pathfinders as a way of promoting the exchange of experience and best practice. Over the period 2004-08, the URCs will have received funding of £66 million from the Scottish Government and decisions on future funding will be taken in the context of the forthcoming spending review.

Regeneration

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a commitment to securing long-term funding for the Irvine Bay Urban Regeneration Company.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government has been working with Irvine Bay Urban Regeneration Company (URC) and local partners, including North Ayrshire Council, Communities Scotland and Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire, to assist in the development of comprehensive regeneration proposals for the Irvine Bay area of North Ayrshire. Irvine Bay URC submitted a revised business plan to the Scottish Government at the end of June for consideration. Decisions on any future investment will be taken in light of that business plan in the context of the forthcoming spending review.

Regeneration

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will meet representatives of North Ayrshire Council to discuss the regeneration of north Ayrshire.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government has already been working with Irvine Bay Urban Regeneration Company and local partners, including North Ayrshire Council, Communities Scotland and Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire, to assist in the development of comprehensive regeneration proposals for the Irvine Bay area of North Ayrshire. The Minister for Communities and Sport will shortly be meeting with representatives from Irvine Bay URC including, I would hope, representatives from North Ayrshire Council.

Regeneration

Jack McConnell (Motherwell and Wishaw) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will reaffirm the recent financial commitments from the board of Scottish Enterprise to the development of the Ravenscraig site.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Enterprise board’s financial commitment to Ravenscraig is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and does not require further affirmation from the Scottish Executive.

Renewable Energy

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding is available for domestic micro-hydroelectric schemes.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative provides grant funding for the installation of domestic micro-hydro schemes. Householders can obtain a grant of 30% of the installed cost, up to a maximum of £4,000.

  Householders in Scotland are also eligible for funding under the UK Government’s Low Carbon Buildings Programme. A maximum grant of £1,000 per kW of installed capacity is available for micro-hydro, subject to an overall maximum of £2,500 or 30% of the relevant eligible costs, whichever is the lower.

Renewable Energy

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been allocated for domestic micro-hydroelectric schemes in each year since 1999.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative has provided funding for the installation of six domestic micro-hydro schemes since its launch in 2002, with a total of £22,507 being allocated.

Schools

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will be in a position to review the closure of Glentrool Primary School in Newton Stewart.

Maureen Watt: Dumfries and Galloway Council was advised on 27 June of our decision against giving consent to the implementation of its proposal to close Glentrool Primary School.

Schools

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will be in a position to advise parents and staff whether Glentrool Primary School in Newton Stewart will remain open after this summer’s academic break.

Maureen Watt: Dumfries and Galloway Council was advised on 27 June of our decision against giving consent to the implementation of its proposal to close Glentrool Primary School. It is for the council to communicate appropriately with parents and school staff.

Scottish Executive Staff

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many of its staff are currently on special leave with pay and serving with the Territorial Army or reserves, broken down by directorate.

John Swinney: There are currently no Scottish Executive staff on special leave for the purpose of Territorial Army or reservist duty with or without pay.

Tourism

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider reviewing which tourism services are funded by local authorities and which are centrally funded through VisitScotland.

Jim Mather: We are determined to do all we can to increase the effectiveness of Scotland’s tourism effort. To do that, we will consider all aspects of Scotland’s tourism industry, including funding for tourism services.

Tourism

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to increase the level of affordable rented accommodation.

Nicola Sturgeon: Decisions on affordable housing investment beyond 2008 will depend on the outcome of the spending review process later this year.